Is Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, who keeps talking about Cyprus as a security threat to the eastern Mediterranean, trying to deliver a message? Erdogan has long been warning Cypriot and international companies exploring energy resources in the region not to "trust the Greek side in Cyprus."

The Turkish president's repeated verbal attacks on Greek Cypriots also shed light on a recent interview, broadcast live on Turkish Cypriot TV, with 84-year-old Turgut Yenağralı -- a former member of the paramilitary Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT), founded in 1957 and known for its criminal activities in Cyprus.

Yenağralı, in the interview, boasted about his role in the mass murder of Greek Cypriots and the reason for it.

"We traveled across Cyprus and either beat up or killed those who committed crimes against Turkishness," he began.

Question: Why did you engage in those activities? Was it an adventure or for excitement?

Yenağralı: No, it was for Turkishness.

Question: Was it easy to kill these people?"

Yenağralı: There is nothing more enjoyable... We took great pleasure after we killed those people.

Question: Did you care about whether these people were criminal or not?

Yenağralı: Why would anyone [care]? Criminal or not... As long as they are kafirs [infidels], they belong to the same race of dogs... When we wanted to shoot the kafir, [the two women members of the group] hid guns in their [brassieres] and carried them for us.

Yenağralı said that he and his friends were never told by Turkish Cypriot leaders to reduce or stop their activities. This omission is probably not surprising, given that one of TMT's key founders was Rauf Denktaş, who served as the head of the "Turkish Federated State of Cyprus" between 1975 and 1983 and subsequently as the president of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" from 1983 to 2005 -- both "states" recognized only by Turkey.

Yenağralı said that after Cyprus gained independence from British rule in 1960, the TMT buried their weapons and continued their activities in an "underground" way -- only to take them back later. However, "Guns kept coming from Turkey," he added. "We started sending men to Turkey for military training. I too went to Turkey twice for military and intelligence training before 1960."

Yenağralı claimed that when the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) was established in 1964, he befriended some UN officials -- something that made it even easier for the TMT to reorganize and take up positions in the area. "A UN commander prepared a UN Peace Corps uniform for me," he said "and I wore it and traveled in his UN vehicle. Because I sent them lamb meat every week and I sent them two women [prostitutes] one night."

"Killing was my art," he said, describing his group's activities after the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974. "It was the Turkish Cypriots who killed the Greek Cypriot captives more than the Turkish military did."

He also expressed sadness that a Turkish commander prevented him from killing Greek Cypriot prisoners of war on the Karpas peninsula after the invasion. "I am still grieving over missing [that opportunity]," he said.

Yenağralı said he was also involved in transporting illegal settlers from Turkey to Cyprus, to replace the Greek Cypriots who had fled the carnage in the northern part of the island to seek refuge in the free, southern part. The invasion was what changed the demographic structure of the island, turning what was once a Greek majority in the north into a Turkish area for the first time in the island's history.

One thing Yenağralı's confessions do is to expose the lie behind Turkey's referring to its invasion as a "peace operation" launched to protect Turkish Cypriots. Turkey, as Yenağralı illustrated, had been involved in criminal activities in Cyprus for decades prior to the invasion -- both before and after Cyprus' independence in 1960.

"Our Greek Cypriot brothers who have migrated from Mesarya [Mesaoria] villages who read this might ask: 'Did this man [Yenağralı] kill my father? Did he kill my mother, my sibling?' I too would ask if I were them. This man is still alive and lives in Mağusa [Famagusta]. I know he is not the only one. There are others. A citizen of ours says that 'another one in Serdarlı [Tziaos] also boasted like that for crushing the head of a Greek Cypriot with a piece of rock. And he is proud of that!

"Then we ask: Why is there not peace yet? How can we make peace when we have rabid murderers living among us? Instead of prosecuting them, we enable them to appear on TV and to boast about their murders. Are we still looking for missing people? Go and ask this man... After carrying out his 'art,' in what wells did he dump those he murdered, or where did he bury them? If he and the like do not know, who else will? If you do not even bring to account a murderer who says, 'killing was my art,' who will you bring to account?"

So far, these "rabid murderers" have not been held accountable for the slaughter of innocent Greek Cypriots: the ethnic cleansing of northern Cyprus. The greater issue is that he and his partners in crime were aided and abetted by the Turkish authorities. All of those responsible need to be tried at international criminal tribunals -- the sooner, the better.

Uzay Bulut, a journalist from Turkey, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at Gatestone Institute. She is currently based in Washington D.C.

The German city of Wiesbaden removed Wednesday (Aug 29) a temporary statue of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set up in a town square by artists, after it sparked confrontations between his supporters and opponents, AFP reports.

"In agreement with state police, Mayor Sven Gerich decided to have the statue removed as security could no longer be guaranteed," the city's government said on Twitter.

Firefighters arrived shortly after midnight with a crane to lift the four-metre tall golden effigy of Erdogan from the central German Unity Square, where it had been placed on Monday as part of Wiesbaden's Biennale art festival.

Organisers had hoped the statue would provoke public debate relevant to this year's theme of "bad news".

Since a failed 2016 coup attempt in Ankara, Erdogan's crackdown on political opponents and journalists - including some German nationals - has been closely followed in Germany, home to a sizeable Turkish minority.

The statue, which had been posed to point boldly into the distance, was quickly defaced with insults like "Turkish Hitler".

A "slightly aggressive atmosphere" developed, a police spokesman told the DPA news agency, while city councillor Oliver Franz told the Wiesbadener Kurier newspaper that verbal confrontations had escalated into scuffles and "bladed weapons were spotted".

But Emil Saenze, a local representative of far-right, anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD) blamed the outcry on "stupidity" by the organisers, who had "given a stage to a despot who spends his time humiliating Germans".

A map of Armenia displayed at a community event in Germany caused a stir in the Turkish media.

The map of ancient Armenia with boundaries covering Cilicia and Western Armenia was presented during the event. This map also covered the territory of the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan disputed the Armenian Genocide after a question from a journalist during a press conference at the G20 summit in Argentina, Armenia News reportedon Monday.

Erdoğan about the rights of minorities in Turkey by A journalist who described himself as an Armenian descended from people who faced genocide, Erdoğan said the question should be left to historians.

"It is impossible to say that Turkey carried out a genocide," Erdoğan said. "A total of 100,000 Armenians live in our country. They were never discriminated on the basis of citizenship, we have never deported any Armenians because of their nationality. We are very humane in our conduct, and we will keep on doing so."

Referencing Article 301 of the Turkish Penal code, which allows prosecution and imprisonment of intellectuals and historians speaking about the Armenian Genocide, Erdoğan's response was cynical, according tothe Armenian National Committee of South America.

Article 301 is a controversial article of law under the Turkish Penal Code which makes it a crime to insult the "Turkish Nation".

According toPEN, the international writers' organisation, Article 301 has repeatedly marked writers, journalists and publishers out as targets for attack, making it even more urgent that this law is repealed.

The Turkish-Armenian writer and editor Hrant Dink and recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Literature Orhan Pamuk were charged under Article 301 for "denigrating Turkey" and "insulting Turkish identity" for referring to the 1915 massacre of Armenians as "genocide" in interviews.

The Armenian Genocide is seen as a process of the systematic extermination of the Armenian population in Turkey begun in 1915 and culminated in 1923. During those years it is believed that up to 1,500,000 Armenians, according to different estimates, died in a period beginning with the Ottoman Empire and continuing in the Republic of Turkey.

Erdoğan has repeatedly spoken outagainst the labelling of the suffering of Armenians during this period as "genocide," particularly around the April 2015 centenary.

Before the arrival of the Turkish President to Argentina, the country's Armenian community held a demonstration in front of the residence of the Turkish Ambassador on Nov. 26.

Every time any country speaks of Armenian Genocide, the president of Turkey ErDOGan foams at the mouth and his loyal dogs starts the harassment of Armenians in Turkey. What a lame scoundrel!!!!

Eurasianet.org

Feb 8 2019

Rightwing Turkish politician calls for expulsion of Armenian migrantsThe leader of a small party blasts undocumented workers after France announces it will commemorate century-old genocideAyla Jean YackleyFeb 8, 2019

A far-right Turkish politician wants his government to expel tens of thousands of Armenian nationals residing in Turkey in retaliation against France for declaring a remembrance day for victims of the World War I-era genocide of Armenians.

President Emmanuel Macron said this week France would mark April 24 as a "national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide.” Turkey’s government, which denies the killings amounted to a genocide, has vigorously condemned the decision.

Researchers estimate between 10,000 and 30,000 Armenian nationals are in Turkey, many of whom have overstayed tourist visas after finding work there. They often face greater scrutiny when foreign governments pressure Turkey to formally recognize the genocide.

“There are 100,000 Armenians here who came from Armenia and are illegally filling their stomachs. I’m saying we should expel them. Why are we letting them stay? While they lobby against Turkey, we continue to feed them,” Mustafa Destici, who leads the small Great Unity Party (BBP), said at a campaign rally on February 7.

It was not clear where Destici came up with a figure of 100,000 nor what “lobbying” efforts Armenian labor migrants living in Turkey could have conducted to persuade Macron. It is not the first time Destici has used the number, or threatened to expel Armenian citizens from Turkey; he made a similar demand in 2015. In 2017, he called on Russia to abandon its military alliance with Armenia.

Destici’s hardline party only receives a few hundred thousand votes in Turkish elections but retains an outsized influence at a time of heightened nationalism in Turkey. In June, the BBP joined President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s electoral alliance, along with a larger right-wing group, in parliamentary and presidential polls, earning one seat in parliament.

Erdogan has in the past suggested kicking out undocumented Armenian nationals in response to moves by other nations to recognize the genocide. In 2015, he said Turkey could “deport” them if it wished, evoking the Ottoman Empire’s deportation of hundreds of thousands of Armenians to the Syrian desert during World War I.

But Erdogan has also taken unprecedented steps toward acknowledging the pain of the descendants of the killings. Each April 24, he offers his condolences to the 60,000 or so Turkish citizens of Armenian descent who remain in Turkey.

The day after his original statement, Destici issued another statement clarifying that he had no quibble with Turkey’s Armenian citizens, for whom he had “endless respect,” he said.

Ibrahim Kalin, Erdogan’s spokesman, said in a statement this week he “violently condemned” France’s decision to commemorate April 24, saying the allegations of genocide lack a legal basis. France legally recognized the killings as genocide in 2001, and another two dozen nations have done so as well.

Turkey argues that both Turks and Armenians died during internecine warfare amid the chaos of World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. However, most Western scholars agree that around 1.5 million Armenians perished in a systematic genocide that began in 1915.

Destici’s remarks were unlikely to spur any concrete action, but illustrate rising nationalist sentiment during a severe economic downturn in Turkey, which also hosts four million Syrian and Iraqi refugees, as well as hundreds of thousands of migrants from Africa, the Middle East and beyond.

Armenians make up a tiny proportion of migrants in Turkey. Many are low-skilled workers and female, forced to look for work outside of Armenia, where the per-capita income is $4,200 compared to $10,500 across the border in Turkey.

Turkey has no diplomatic relations with Armenia, cutting ties in 1993 in protest of the war between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave.

Ayla Jean Yackley is a journalist based in Istanbul. Sign up for Eurasianet's free weekly newsletter.

Turkish-Armenian MP Garo Paylan, representing the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), took to Twitter to respond to remarks about the Armenia Genocide made by Turkish President Erdoghan’s spokesperson.

Turkey on Wednesday hit out at French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement that France would make April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian Genocide.

"We condemn and reject attempts by Macron, who is afflicted by political problems in his own country, to try and save the day by turning historical events into a political matter," Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement after the French leader's announcement on Tuesday.

In a tweet on Thursday Paylan questioned Ibrahim Kalin’s statement, saying: “If the Armenian Genocide is a lie, why the Turkish President has been sending condolence messages to the Armenian community five years in a row on every April 24”

“Turkey is yet to face and name the tragedy of the Armenian people displaced and slaughtered by the decision of the state. What happened should concern first the president and the Speaker of Turkish parliament. They should face and call the tragedy with a proper name as we have been waiting for justice for104 years,” Paylan wrote in a separate post.

To remind, speaking to the Armenian community at a dinner in Paris, Macron said: "France is, first and foremost, the country that knows how to look history in the face, which was among the first to denounce the killing of the Armenian people, which in 1915 named genocide for what it was, which in 2001 after a long struggle recognized it in law."

France "will in the next weeks make April 24 a national day of commemoration of the Armenian genocide," he added.

They are back at their usual ways!!!!!!!!! Could also be baboonjanis!!!!!

Panorama, Armenia

Feb 14 2019

Another incident of Armenian church targeted by vandals in Istanbul

New case of vandalism has been found on the walls of the Armenian Surb Astvatsatsin Church in Istanbul’s Zeinlink district, according to a report by ermenihaber.am. The spray-painted graffiti captured by the photographer of the news outlet is signed “OHB” which is one of the most active graffiti makers in Istanbul.

This is not the first incident, in which Armenian institutions have been the target of graffiti and vandalism in Istanbul in recent years. In April 2018 photos of graffiti reading “This homeland is ours” spray-painted on the exterior wall of the Armenian Surp Takavor Church and a pile of trash dumped in front of the church’s door began circulating on social media and various Turkish news outlets. The Kadıkoy Municipality condemned the incident as a “racist attack” in a Twitter post, saying the necessary work has been initiated to clear the writing and remove the trash.

In 2016, the exterior walls of the Bomonti Mkhitarian Armenian School of Istanbul were vandalized with anti-Armenian graffiti recently. “One night, we suddenly will be in Karabakh,” read the graffiti in Turkish.

The Austrian Interior Ministry has banned several extremist symbols including those from Turkish ultra-nationalists and the Muslim Brotherhood.
Breibart – In total 13 flags and symbols fall under the new ban including the neo-fascist Grey Wolves from Turkey, the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), and the Muslim Brotherhood which originates in Egypt, Kronen Zeitung reports.

The ban, which comes into effect on March 1st, extends to anyone displaying the flags or symbols in public and subjects them to a fine of up to 4,000 euros and up to 10,000 euros for repeat offenders.

The plan to ban the symbols was a joint effort between the two parties of the ruling conservative-populist coalition of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) and the Austrian Freedom Party (FPÖ) and comes after extremist symbols of Islamic State and the Al-Qaeda were previously banned.

Exemptions to the ban will apply for those not using the symbols to endorse the groups they represent including use for media, films, exhibitions, and academic use.

While the Grey Wolves have a much bigger presence in neighbouring Germany, Austria has seen clashes between members of the Turkish ultra-right and the country’s Kurdish community as recently as August of 2016 when the two groups attacked each other in the middle of Vienna forcing tourists to flee into nearby shops to escape the violence.

Austria has also taken issue with Turkish supporters of Islamist President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who took to the streets in Vienna following the failed coup in 2016 and overwhelmingly voted for Erdoğan in last year’s national election prompting FPÖ Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache to write on social media, “I recommend all the Turks in Austria who voted for Erdoğan should return to Turkey!”

The PKK, while not a major force in Austria, has been allegedly linked to the firebombing of Turkish mosques in Germany. The group is recognised as a terrorist organisation by the UK.

Erdogan to open Ara Guler photo show in Japan
Erdogan to open Ara Guler photo show in Japan
June 27, 2019 - 15:59 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan will this weekend cut the ribbon on an exhibit featuring the works of renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler in Kyoto, Japan, Anadolu Agency reports.

Following successful runs in London and Paris, Guler's works will be exhibited at an 800-year-old Tofukuji temple from June 30 to July 10, said the communications team for Erdogan.

Erdogan is in currently in Osaka, Japan for a G20 Leaders’ Summit.

Curated by the Turkish Presidency, the exhibit includes Guler’s iconic photos and portraits of legendary Turkish writer Yasar Kemal and famous folk musician and poet Asik Veysel, as well as international figures such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Indira Gandhi, Mother Teresa, Brigitte Bardot, and Sophia Loren.

A booklet on the exhibition in Turkish, English, and Japanese will be given to leaders at the G20 summit.

After Japan, the exhibit will proceed to the National Museum of the American Indian in New York City at the end of September, coinciding with the UN General Assembly.

Turkey and Japan share similar cultural values such as hard work, courage, discipline, despite differences in language and distances spanning thousands of miles, the Turkish president said on Monday.

Speaking at a lunch gathering hosted by the head of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, Toshihiro Nikai, in the Japanese capital of Tokyo, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said more than 170,000 Japanese people visited the "Treasures and Tradition of 'Lale' [Tulip] in the Ottoman Empire" exhibition.

Erdogan also said a photo exhibition featuring the works of renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer Ara Guler at the 800-year-old Tofukuji Temple in Kyoto would receive the same interest from Japanese people.

"We hope to introduce Turkey's rich cultural heritage to our Japanese friends with the programs we will organize throughout the year," Erdogan said.

Erdogan also emphasized the potential for cooperation not only in the political and economic fields but also in culture and science.

"One of the most critical projects between Turkey and Japan is the Turkish-Japanese University of Science and Technology, planned to be established in Istanbul. We are working to open this university in a short time," Erdogan said.

Erdogan also received Oshima Tadamori, Speaker of the House of Representatives, at the Japanese parliament.

"Japan has a special place in the hearts of the Turkish people. In 2013, we crowned our friendship with a strategic partnership. I believe that parliamentary diplomacy plays an important role in the development of cooperation between countries," Erdogan said in the meeting.